What causes my instumental panel lights to be cut off and some are left on.... partially is lighted and some are not..?

have you tried twisting your dimmer switch at all? sometimes they get a little "iffy"~

I would suspect a dirty or loose connection. If you can get to the connectors, take them apart and plug them together several times. The wiping action on the contacts cleans them.

surprises the crap out of me that Jeep elected to use an old fashioned rheostat, rather than the standard beep beep beep annoyance interface~ the mini has a rediculous pushbutton which decreases intensity ten percent per push...what on earth was so lousy with potentiometers? they work just fine for years....this digital interface has to start friendlien' itself up but quick or no one's gonna buy it!